I have to give Universal an A+ for another really great Holiday Season. We spent 5 days at Portofino and 5 days at CBBR.
*Grinchmas always a highlight for us. The show is soooo good, that we do multiple viewings. This year we watched the show 6 times. Using the former Blue Man Theater was a great idea.
Cast members said seating occupancy was 900, which is considerably above the former Sound Stage setting. The seats are super comfortable, and most of the time the cast members let
us choose our seat. When we were there the front section always filled up, and the back section was generally one fourth filled. The Sound Stages usually filled up completely since they had,
fewer seats, but they would cut the lines off early. They never shut down the lines while we were there, which was nice since you didn't have to queue up early. They also have a nice sized
food stand at the entrance with Grinch themed beverage & food selections. And also a merchandise cart and nearby restrooms. The set was the same new set they made in 2018, but since space
in front of the stage was less than the soundstages, they weren't able to use the Who vehicles they previously used as the show opened. And as far as I could recall, the choreography was largely
the same as 2018/2019. Excellent performers as usual. The Narrators were especially good this year with fine booming voices. Bottom line, this is Broadway theater level show, just shorter at
apx. 30 minutes.
*Universal Christmas Parade was great again. This is always a multiple must see for us. I actually think it's better than the longer Macy's parade in NY. The floats are better, and the music is better.
It's all Christmas oriented with none of the obnoxious junk music NY has in it's parade. We viewed the Parade four times, Three times under Macy's roof overhang and once from the AP area in Hollywood.
The NYC area has better ambiance but the AP area is better for taking photos, plus you get to see the Parade twice, as it passes by at the end also, like the Mardi Gras Parade. The number of parade
dancers and stilt walkers varied daily, but generally was as full as past parades. This was many times better than the Cavalcade Plus Christmas Parade we saw at Disney's Overpriced Christmas Party.
Universal did not go the cheap route.
*Christmas Tribute store is a real bonus. It's really a walk through attraction, and especially awesome was the Yule Ball room and the Grinch room, sleigh and all.
*As always, decorations at the Hotel Resorts were excellent....and Portofino brought back it's massive live Piazza tree this year.
*Regular street shows, as usual, were Christmas themed. Blues Brothers did their hilarious and entertaining Christmas sketch and both Marilyn and the NYC Street Singers did Holiday shows.
Potter stage shows repeated their fine Holiday shows and the Hogwarts Holiday Castle lights show was back. And we love the fact that Universal plays Holiday songs in the park's loop music. It really
sets a nice mood.
*Park decorations, as usual, were very tasteful
....Bottom line. We just love what Universal does for the Holidays. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
www.insideuniversal.net
